Pnictogen-Based Enzymatic Phenol Biosensors: Phosphorene, Arsenene, Antimonene, and Bismuthene

Two-dimensional materials have allowed for great advances in the biosensors field and to obtain sophisticated, smart, and miniaturized devices. In this work, we optimized a highly sensitive and selective phenol biosensor using 2D pnictogens (phosphorene, arsenene, antimonene, and bismuthene) as sensing platforms. Exfoliated pnictogen were obtained by the shear-force method, undergoing delamination and downsizing to thin nanosheets. Interestingly, compared with the other tested elements, antimonene exhibited the highest degree of exfoliation and the lowest oxidation-to-bulk ratio, to which we attribute its enhanced performance in the phenol biosensor system reported here. The proposed design represents the first biosensor approach developed using exfoliated pnictogens beyond phosphorene.